Google: Gmail Getting "Better Ads"

Google says it's about ready to roll out "better ads" in Gmail. As such, the search giant plans to serve fewer -- but more relevant and useful -- ads by better predicting which topics appear to be important to individual users.

Reports CNet: "One of the tools that Google plans to use to accomplish this is its Priority Inbox, a feature launched last August that is designed to help clear the clutter from users' in-boxes by filtering out e-mail deemed less important." Google said it's planning a gradual rollout of the changes, with only a few users presently noticing the new system. "Using some of the same signals that help predict which messages are likely to be important to you, Gmail will better predict which ads may be useful to you," Google explains. "For example, if you've recently received a lot of messages about photography or cameras, a deal from a local camera store might be interesting. On the other hand if you've reported these messages as spam, you probably don't want to see that deal."

Despite Google assurances that the system is automated and no personally identifiably information about users is ever shared with advertisers, CNet suggests the new process is likely to ignite privacy concerns.